Discussion relating to the current status of women, with a special focus on the following categories that constitute potential challenges to gender equality and women’s rights: the UK’s decision to leave the EU, the refugee crisis, rising levels of (and political legitimisation of) sexual violence and misogyny, cuts in child-care and services for disabled people, lack of access to paid parental leave, tax and welfare reforms, the gender pay gap, sexual harassment and the rise of zero-contract hours.

International researchers and scientists from academia, industry and government to present their studies to a multi-disciplinary audience, exchange experiences, discuss proposals, and disseminate results on women’s and gender studies.

Raising awareness and encouraging dialogue on the proposed topics, with the aim of creating lasting productive partnerships between the participants.

All submitted papers will be published in the conference proceedings, edited under the Creative Commons Licence (Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International/CC BY-ND 4.0), which will also contain a report and catalogue of activities. This book will be available on the WomenBeing webpage to download for free, and it will also be freely distributed to schools, institutions, research centres and individuals who request it.

WomenBeing builds upon this momentum by providing a ‘loudspeaker’ for academics, civil servants, researchers, social activists, journalists and private individuals to make their voices heard on the main challenges that women are currently facing.